Mike Holmes, the expert licensed contractor who created and hosted reality series including Holmes on Homes and Holmes Inspection, wants a deserving family to win their dream home. But first, they have to put in a little sweat equity. “The American dream is to own your own home,” says Holmes. “But it wouldn’t be right just to hand a free house to someone, now would it?”
On his new FOX reality competition series Home Free, Holmes challenges nine couples to revive houses for others in hopes of winning their own dream abode. Mike explains, “The rules are, you’ve got to help me renovate eight houses, from top to bottom. We’re going to turn a disaster into a dream. Every house is going to be for a deserving family, so not only do they have the possibility of being home free, but they’re helping people in need.”
Each week, Holmes will present the couples with tasks designed to test and challenge their DIY skills. And to ensure that their fixes pass his strict standards, Holmes shares his expertise and guidance with the contestants as they make their repairs. “The only way to do this is to make them work for it and make them appreciate everything they’ve done. If you make it to the end, you deserve it.”
And since competition fuels the spirit (and TV ratings!), the couples with the best work will move forward in the competition, while the couple who doesn’t perform up to code faces elimination. Of course, Mike Holmes isn’t the type of man to crush people’s dreams, so even the show’s “losers” end up winners. Check out the below clip to learn the show’s big twist.
For those still in the competition (and the only one’s not in on the secret), once the tough and sweaty work is done for the day, the couples don’t have far to travel to rest their heads … because not only are they restoring a home together, they’re also all living together. “They have about four trailers in a circle. They have outdoor showers and bathrooms. It’s almost like they’re camping right beside the house,” says Holmes. But being so close to the project site means their work — and their dream — is literally looming outside their doors. “Imagine, they’re getting up at 4:30 in the morning. They’re starting early. They’re sweating all day long until nighttime and then they get to bed late,” says Holmes. “They are going to live, breathe and eat — 24 hours a day — on the construction site.”
Home Free is a fun premise for a show and it’s satisfying to know that everyone’s hard work will ultimately be rewarded. And can we talk about the moment when the adorable couple learned that they were the owners of that beautiful home? Priceless. We will definitely need tissues nearby for the last few minutes of each episode. And a notebook, so I can write down home repair tips from Holmes.
Home Free > FOX > Wednesdays at 9pm ET/ 8pm CT, beginning July 22